Michelle's Life in La-La Land

Psychologists say people reported feeling happier when they spent their money on experiences rather than objects. 

好啦老實說我完全沒有計畫情人節. 但本來就計畫這周末要滑雪...完全忘了情人節這回事.
虧我之前還稱讚美國的氣象報告比台灣的準很多, 但上周末氣象報告說會下大雨(雪)但卻大晴天害我沒滑到雪. 這禮拜我決定不再相信氣象報告非去不可, 再不去冬天就快結束了!

三更半夜
連滾帶爬
我逃了回家

今天以後
乖乖開車
不偷懶

The Old Post Office Cafe
5245 N. Lake Blvd
Carnelian Bay, CA 96140
(530) 546-3205

Doesn't matter what the old post office cafe claims itself to be, the fact it got the highest (4.5 stars) rating on Yelp in North Tahoe is undeniable.

身處異鄉
雖然加州華人人口眾多
但年味不會送上門來
不會在每條大街小巷提醒你新年到穿新衣戴新帽

今年除夕是星期天
找了一些同是華人的朋友們吃飲茶
從北加下來的羅夫加入我們
稍微有了那麼一點團聚感

本應吃除夕團圓飯的星期天晚上
就在家煮了吃了平日的蔬菜湯了事
雖然知道隔天要上班在LA 大家住這麼遠也不可能在星期天晚上做甚麼
但總是有點落寞, 心中一直抱怨沒有年味沒有年味
擔心若在這成家立業那後代子孫一定不知道甚麼是除夕甚麼是圍爐

今天吃到今年的第一片年糕
突然發現年糕對於我所謂的年味真的很重要
吃下了年糕就有莫名的過年感了!!!

謝謝雪.

This was my 2nd visit to Snow Summit.  The 1st time was almost an year ago.  I still remember we spent the entire afternoon in the traffic and it was already dark when we were finally ready to go on the slopes.  Even worse than that, it took a friend of mine 6 HOURS (from OC to Big Bear) on a FRIDAY NIGHT and another friend also 6 HOURS on a Saturday!!!  After hearing all that, I was very determined to get up really really early to avoid the crowds and traffic.

After seeing all those massive layoffs in pretty much every industry and the soaring unemployment numbers, you know the economic downturn still continues.  Even the company of the software you use everyday and the company of the coffee you drink everyday cut people.  How can everyone else survive?

Until it actually hit you or your family, this whole recession thing seemed to bring only benefits - deeper discounts, lower rents, and all kind of special deals considering the tight budget of average Americans.  It's not like you didn't have sympathy for the people who lost their jobs.  You know you are lucky enough to still have a job, so you work twice as hard and think you well deserve the job and all the benefits the bad economy brings you.  

You only realize how bad things are when the bad news starts to hit you.  When that happens, you know things will get worse because even yourself started thinking about cutting budgets on everything you can. 

This is definitly an interesting time to be here, to be part of the history.  I wish things will get better soon and all my friends and families can survive the recession (if not a depression) and tell their sons/daughters or grandsons/grand daughters the story of this lifetime experience.

Hollywood Sign 一向是LA 的重要地標
觀光客來跟Hollywood Sign 合照更是一定要的
到底在哪裡才能捕捉到最近最清楚的Hollywood Sign呢?

This X'mas holiday I planned a snowboarding trip to Lake Tahoe, the beautiful lake up on the border of north Cali and Nevada.  Most people from So Cal or even from the bay often visit ths south shore.  Among those ski resorts in south Tahoe, Heavenly is probably the most popular one.

However, I decided to visit the north shore for my 1st trip to Tahoe just because I thought the drive to north Tahoe from Reno, where we flew to, is shorter.  Who doesn't want to save some drive on snow days?  Lodging in Tahoe on major holidays could be very expensive.  Luckily I found a reasonably priced lakeside lodge.

Fransican Lakeside Lodge: It's a cute little lakeside lodge, sitting right by the lake in Tahoe Vista.  Fransican has different sizes of rooms for different demands and they're all pretty reasonably priced, even in the holiday season.

There are actually quite a few lakeside lodges like Fransiscan in Tahoe Vista.  I think Tahoe Vista will be a great place to stay when you visit Tahoe in summer. That doesn't mean it's not good in the winter.  Just it's not that close to the ski resorts and you can't really see or do anything in bad weathers even you're right by the lake. There was a snow storm in lake tahoe area starting the night we arrived.  In order to take the picture below, I had to fight through the deep new snow and all I could see was the deck covered with snow.  (as opposed to the top picture, taken at the same spot on the 3rd day, a wonderful clear day.)

On the morning of the 2nd day, we went out and realized the snow had been falling heavily throughout the night and didn't seem like it would stop anytime soon.  We never experienced any snowstorm before and weren't sure if people actually go out and ski/snowboard in a weather like this.  We walked out to the patio and saw some cars carrying skis/snowboards on the road.  So we guess people do ski/snowboard in this kind of wheather.  Plus we flew and drove all the way here, we didn't want to spend our X'mas vacation staying in the room.  We decided to go clean the snow off our car and head out for some food and snowboarding regardless the heavy snow.
This is how thick the snow was...

Eat is always the thing I care the most.  I did my research and planned to have breakfast at "The Old Post Office Cafe".  Unfortunately it was closed when we drove by, maybe due to the heavy snow, or because it's X'mas day.  In fact, pretty much all the shops and restaurants we'd seen on the street (North Lake Blvd) were closed.  So when we saw the first open restaurant, Rosie's Cafe, we decided to eat there right away.

When planning the trip, I knew we could go to either Squaw Valley or Alpine Meadows, or maybe both.  And actually we were still deciding which resort to go when having breakfast at Rosie's.  Looking at the heavy snow outside, we had a bad feeling and weren't sure these two were even open today.  We called and were told Alpine Meadows was closed due to an avalanche, so I guess we are going to Squaw Valley today!

Squaw Valley USA

Alpine Meadows

Okay.  I know I'm still far from finishing this post.  But I've been holding it for too long and I figure I want to post it before the summer comes.  Haha....  I've been swamped lately but will try to write more details later.

昨天去健身房正好養樂多在作試喝活動
一人發一排(應該是半排...五瓶)
她的推銷噱頭一是可以排毒二是熱量只有五十卡
一聽到還很高興只有五十卡
拿出來要喝才發現她還真不是普通的小瓶(80ml)
我想我一次大概可以喝個五六瓶吧
到底是養樂多變小瓶了呢?(美國版包裝比較小瓶?)
還是養樂多沒變是我長大了?

The 120th Rose Parade

聖誕節新年一向是異鄉學子/外籍勞工返鄉的季節
來美國這幾年我跨年也多是回台灣
今年要在LA跨年突然發現我好像還沒好好在這跨過年
正在考慮要去Universal City Walk 還是去 Disney Downtown跨年
又想到好像一年一度的Pasadena Rose Parade也是非看不可的
恩要是我還是大學生我會去跨完年去bar混一下去唱個歌吃個消夜然後去跨年
但我年紀大了並不想讓自己那麼累
只能在跨年或看玫瑰花車遊行中二選一

Garlic Jo's
2332 W Coast Hwy
Newport Beach, CA 92663
(949) 673-8444

Garlic Jo's 位於PCH上
之前聽過同事推薦
這天本來因為有Daily Grill 的gift card 打算去Fashion Island的 Daily Grill
開在PCH上看到Garlic Jo's 就改變主意
決定來試試這家傳說中除了Stinking Rose外有名的大蒜餐廳
走到門口才發現她原來是個日本餐廳(跟大蒜還蠻不搭的)
(剛剛找她的網站發現Garlic Jo's原來是日本餐廳來加州開的分店呢!)
(註: 招牌上的Ninniku=garlic)

Bagel Factory
3004 S Sepulveda Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90034
(310) 231-9240

在LA Times 看到這篇"The Best Bagels in the Los Angeles Area"
平常每個禮拜吃Noah's 吃得很開心的我也想來試一下被評Best Bagels 的bagels 吃起來有甚麼不一樣
看到Bagel Factory 有家有個離家很近的分店就決定來試試

FOOD
10571 Pico Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90064

之前在LA餐廳設計大賞入圍名單中看到離家不到2 miles 的FOOD就想該找天去試試
這天終於有機會來囉!
整面漆成紅色的外牆照理說應該是很吸引目光的才對
但可能門口有樹擋住的緣故, 在繁忙的Pico上如果不是知道她在那而刻意去找
光是開車路過是不太會注意到的
不過她位處很多celebrity 愛去的boutique shop- Intuition 隔壁
應該是有成為名人愛光顧店的潛力

豆漿的好處被大家持續強調
我一向有說服自己愛上健康食物的強迫症
聽到同事的搬家大特賣有豆漿機
就毫不考慮把她搬回家了!

豆漿機還很新但沒有說明書
對於這種賢慧的事完全不熟的我連豆漿的成分是什麼都不確定
網路上搜尋了一下好像大概就是買黃豆洗黃豆泡黃豆
然後放進豆漿機就大功告成